‘Constituency First Look’ is only an introduction to the build-up for the polls. These reports merely seek to inform readers of the ground level political movements and will not even remotely be an analysis of the mood or the strength of parties or individuals. Today we look at Saligao constituency.
Saligao constituency which has returned a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA for the last two elections will most likely see more than three candidates challenging BJP’s Dilip Parulekar who is a minister in the Laxmikant Parsekar cabinet.
Parulekar has represented the constituency for two terms, first elected in 2007 defeating former chief minister Wilfred D’Souza, garnering a record 43 per cent of the total vote share. Earlier winners in the constituency have received around 35 per cent of the vote.
Likely to be in the fray this time are Goa Forward’s Jayesh Salgaonkar who is a former Youth Congress leader, Tulio D’Souza who is the son-in-law of Wilfred D’Souza, and Saligao Sarpanch Eknath Oraskar.
Tulio D’Souza had contested the 2012 Assembly elections and had come the runner-up in a battle amongst 10 candidates in the constituency.
The constituency has approximately 29,000 voters spread across six village panchayats of Saligao, Reis Magos, Nerul, Pilerne, Sangolda and Guirim.
Besides these four candidates, there are two other aspirants hoping to get party tickets as the election date approaches. Bhola Ghadi, a former sarpanch of Saligao and Rajesh Dabolkar, who had contested the last Zilla Panchayat election, are the other aspirants in the constituency.
The North Goa District Committee has recommended Tulio D’Souza for the party ticket, whereas the Saligao Block Congress Committee had recommended three persons, including former Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes, Party General Secretary Advocate Yatish Naik, and Saligao block Mahila Congress President Sonal Naik. Fernandes has refused to contest from Saligao demanding the ticket from Calangute whereas Naik is not willing to contest the 2017 election, paving the way for Tulio to get the Congress ticket.
“The main work which is pending for years is the widening and improving the CHOGM road which has not been done. Only Saligao junction has been improved but major traffic problems and accidents are seen along the entire CHOGM road,” Dhiraj D’Souza, a local told Herald.
Another resident Krishna Salgaonkar also cited road problems in the interiors of the villages. He said that the narrow roads are creating a major problem as two vehicles cannot pass at a same time.
The issue of the Solid Waste Treatment Plant, which had irked villagers in the past, was later resolved. Parulekar had been feeling heat due to the project in his constituency but it being a pet project of his party he had gone out and managed to convince the voters on this.
